The evisceration of pig carcasses is effected in a number of sub-processes, normally carried out by abattoir, i.e., slaughterhouse, workers. Certain of the sub-processes such as fat end loosening, brisket opening, and loosening of the diaphragm and leaf fat can be performed by various automatic or worker-operated devices.
Thus, in several abattoirs, worker-operated equipment is used to loosen diaphragm and leaf fat. The equipment, which is manufactured and marketed by Scanio, Denmark, includes a larger and a smaller hoop, which can be moved past each other by means of two pendulum-suspended cylinder units. After the intestines have been removed from the carcass, the operator makes a cut in the diaphragm muscle and positions the larger hoop under the diaphragm. The smaller hoop is moved down to meet the upper side of the diaphragm, and then the larger hoop is moved upwards in the direction of the pelvic region of the carcass. This movement loosens the diaphragm and leaf fat from the carcass. The design of the loosening equipment is shown in Danish design registration no. 63-1981 (owned by Slagteriernes Forsknings-institut the owner of the present application).
EP-A2 0 601 812 (University of Bristol) describes a method for removing viscera from pig carcasses. The carcass is cut open at the abdomen and breast. Then, the fat end is loosened. A cutting tool with two collecting fingers is next moved along the spinal column, cutting free the intestines which fall away through the abdominal opening. The tool provides an opening in the diaphragm, through which vertical knives are inserted and moved round the inside of the carcass cutting out the diaphragm. A brush device tears out the lungs of the carcass, and finally the head is cut off. Leaf fat is not loosened or extracted.
EP-A1 0 755 628 (Stork R. M. S.) describes a method for automatic releasing the intestines by means of half-hoops shaped to follow the inside of the carcass. In operative position the half-hoops practically connect to each other. The hoops are placed between the peritoneum and the abdominal wall and are moved parallel to the spinal column whereby the peritoneum with the organs arranged therein is released. The purpose of the method is to release the peritoneum almost completely from the abdominal wall with a single releasing movement. (However, the present applicant has not been able to reproduce this situation.)
Danish patent application no. 120/97, filed on Feb. 3, 1997 (also owned by Slagteriernes Forsknings-institut) describes a method for the evisceration of a carcass which is suspended in a gambrel and has been cut open in the abdominal side. In this method, the diaphragm, leaf fat and intestines are loosened. The diaphragm and leaf fat are preferably loosened by means of a set of half-hoops, the free ends of which are at a substantial distance from each other, such as a set of hoops of the design known from the loosener according to the above mentioned Danish design registration. The connections between the intestines and the spinal column are cut through by the action of a cutting tool moving along the spinal column.